On Aug. 7, Assistant Principal Mr. Charles Davis sent an email to Cherry Hill High School East parents announcing that students will have assigned parking spots for the 2025-2026 school year. Eastside believes that reimplementing assigned parking spots after a few years with unassigned parking (students could park in a different spot each day) has been beneficial for drivers, increasing organization and students’ comfort by ensuring that their spots are secured. 

While Eastside acknowledges the effectiveness of assigned spots, we are concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding other issues in the parking lot. A primary issue is the absence of formal instruction for students involved in minor accidents in the parking lot. 

When Eastside asked Davis — the administrator behind the new parking lot policy — about whom a student should contact when an accident occurs on school grounds, he explained that there is no difference in the procedure at East compared to anywhere else in Cherry Hill: one should call the Cherry Hill Police Department. He shared that while students are welcome to speak with the campus police, it is not the standard procedure for an accident. However, in the case of minor incidents which occur very often with many inexperienced and impatient drivers at East, such as lightly bumping into another car, many students’ first instinct would not be to dial 911. Also, with how many more minor accidents occur in East’s parking lot than just anywhere in Cherry Hill, the campus police need to be a readily available resource.

Despite the fact that students should call the police department if the situation is fit, Eastside believes that East’s campus police phone number needs to be more publicized and easily accessible to students in minor circumstances. If a smaller incident occurs and campus police involvement is more suited, it is unreasonable for students to have to go inside the school to the campus police office while dealing with the situation. 

East administration should post a policy online for parking lot incidents so students are aware of how to handle these situations. Additionally, East’s website needs to include updated parking rules, as the current policy listed is outdated. 

Eastside acknowledges that the new parking system has thus far proven to be beneficial for students by minimizing chaos. However, Eastside maintains that East administration needs to emphasize campus police in addition to calling the Cherry Hill Police Department.